Hospital help

Slimy serpent · Mar 21, 2020

I bought some clownfish and a blue green chromes and placed them in quarantine. The clowns have ich and one is showing two different types of internal parasites.

I have been cycling a hospital tank and learned that dosing copper will hurt the beneficial bacteria and plan in removing my bio filter when dosing. I am going to dose for internal parasites first. Is this the right order to do it? ( internal parasites then copper for ich) and are the meds for the internal parasites going to hurt the bacteria also?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 21, 2020

I'm going to move this to a better forum than the chemistry forum.

Slimy serpent · Mar 21, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I'm going to move this to a better forum than the chemistry forum.

Ahh yes thank you!

Big G · Mar 21, 2020

For standard QT or hospital tank setup having good bacteria in the tank helps to improve/keep water quality and reduces the need for water changes.

In your HOB pre soaking the foam pad in something like Bio Spira or Seachem Stability, etc. is a good thing. Also adding a mesh bag with ceramic material like Seachem Matrix or Fluval BioMax that has also been soaked will help. Also a foam bubble filter with the foam pad also soaked in beneficial. Pour the left over liquid into the QT/hospital tank.

I leave a complete set of HOB foam filter, mesh bag with ceramic media, and a foam bubble filter pad in my display tank's sump 24/7 so I'm ready to setup a hospital or QT quickly. And when having soaked in the sump for at least 30 days or so, I very seldom have to do water changes in the QT/hospital tank other than siphoning off fish poo, food, etc.